Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Bought by Goelzer Investment Management Inc.

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,838 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the period. Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,139,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ORCL. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Oracle by 5.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $411,748,000 after acquiring an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders increased its position in Oracle by 383.4% during the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,675 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp purchased a new position in Oracle in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,160,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Oracle by 79.6% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $48,813,000 after buying an additional 126,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 84.5% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 863,883 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $147,206,000 after acquiring an additional 395,613 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ORCL. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Oracle Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE:ORCL opened at $183.59 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $174.41 and a 200-day moving average of $162.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $513.50 billion, a PE ratio of 44.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $106.51 and a 52 week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Oracle Profile

Oracle Corporation offers products and services that address enterprise information technology environments worldwide. Its Oracle cloud software as a service offering include various cloud software applications, including Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP), Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise performance management, Oracle Fusion cloud supply chain and manufacturing management, Oracle Fusion cloud human capital management, Oracle Cerner healthcare, Oracle Advertising, and NetSuite applications suite, as well as Oracle Fusion Sales, Service, and Marketing.